ORTHOTOMUS. 235 



" The Tailor-bird breeds, I fancy, at least twice in the year, as I 

 have seen young birds early in the hot weather both at Mount 

 Aboo and in Deesa, and I have also taken nests in the rains. The 

 nest is usually constructed with much skill and ingenuity. One 

 nest which I took on the 3rd September at Mount Aboo consisted 

 of three leaves cleverly sewn together with raw cotton, leaving a 

 moderate-sized entrance on one side near the top, the inside being 

 lined exclusively with horsehair and fine dry fibres. 



" I captured the hen bird with a horsehair noose fixed to the 

 end of a long thin rod as she left the nest. Another nest which I 

 took in Deesa on the 3rd September, 1876, was composed almost 

 entirely of raw cotton with a scanty lining of horsehairs and dry 

 grass-stems. It was fixed to the outside twigs of a lime-tree, two' 

 of the leaves of which were sewn to it ; two dead leaves were also 

 attached to the nest, one being sewn on each side as a support to 

 the cotton. It was cup-shaped and open at the top, much like a 

 Chaffinch's nest." 



Mr. Oates remarks : — " This is a common bird in Burma in the 

 plains, and possibly also on the hills, though I did not observe it 

 on the latter. I found the nest of this species containing young 

 birds in the Thayetmyo cantonment on the 12th August. In the 

 Pegu plains it appears to nest from the middle of May to the end 

 of August." 



The eggs are typically long ovals, often tapering much towards 

 the small end. The shells are very thin, delicate, and semitrans- 

 parent, and have but little gloss. 



The ground-colour is either reddish white or pale bluish green. 

 Of the two types, the reddish white is the more common in the 

 proportion of two to one. The markings consist of bold blotchings 

 or sometimes ill-defined clouds (in this respect recalling the eggs 

 of Prinia inornatci), chiefly confined to the large end ; and specks, 

 spots, and splashes, extending more or less over the whole surface, 

 typically of a bright brownish red, varying, however, in different 

 examples both in shade and intensity. The markings have a strong 

 tendency to form a bold, irregular zone or cap at the large end, 

 and in some specimens the markings are entirely confined to this 

 portion of the egg's surface. 



The eggs, which have a reddish-white ground, though smaller 

 and of a much more elongated shape, closely resemble those of 

 Suya fuliginosa. 



In length the eggs vary from 0-6 to 0-7, and in breadth from 

 0-45 to 0-5 ; but the average of fifty eggs measured is 0-64 

 by 0-46. 



375. Orthotomus atrigularis, Temm. The Black-necked 



Tailor-bird. 

 Orthotomus atrigularis, Temm., Hume, Cat. no. 530 bis. 



Mr. Mandelli sends me a nest which he assures me belongs to 

 this species, and the bird he sent me for identification certainly 



